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INSTITUTE OF GUIDANCE COUNSELLORS

NATIONAL AUDIT

OF

GUIDANCE COUNSELLING PRACTICE

IN SECOND LEVEL SCHOOLS & COLLEGES OF

FURTHER EDUCATION

IN IRELAND

2011 – 2014

REPORT OF FINDINGS PHASE 3

IGC National Audit of Guidance Counselling Practice 2011-12 to 2013-14

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FOREWARD The Institute of Guidance of Guidance Counsellors (IGC) are pleased to publish the results of

their 2013-14 National audit of guidance counselling provision in second level schools and

colleges of further education in Ireland, which was initially commissioned by its National

Executive in February 2012 arising from the Budget 2012 decision to remove the ex-quota

allocation for guidance counselling that operated in Irish schools.

The decision to initiate a series of National audits stemmed from concerns that many students

would not now receive the essential supports necessary to allow them to achieve their

potential and progress their educational goals, commensurate with their aptitudes and

abilities. The Institute feared that while all students would be affected by the change, the

disadvantaged and vulnerable students would suffer most. However, we had no hard

evidence to substantiate our fears or concerns, hence the decision to undertake this series of

annual National audits.

An important part of the audit was to ascertain evidence in quantitative terms of the amount

of practice time lost; the areas impacted by this loss; the effect on access to one-to-one

counselling; and the effect on the role of guidance counsellor in terms of where these loss

hours were now spent. I would like to put on record our sincere thanks to Sheelagh Beatty,

LifeCare Psychological Services Limited, who undertook the analysis of the audit and

worked tirelessly to get the results to us as quickly as possible. I would also like to record

our thanks to all who completed the National audits, despite their very busy work schedules.

While the 2012-13 academic year bore the initial brunt of the stark reduction in hours, the

2013-14 audit has revealed that this very worrying trend has continued. Many young people

continue to remain unable to access the assistance of guidance counsellors when they most

need them. Findings show that there has been a further erosion of 15.2% in time for one-to-

one counselling, on top of the 51.4% loss in 2012-13. This amounts to a combined overall

loss of 58.8% since the removal of the ex-quota allocation of hours. Audit results further

highlight a continuing reduction of the hours allocated to the guidance counselling service of

2.9%, in addition to the loss of 21.4% in 2012-13, resulting in an overall service loss of

23.7% over the two academic years, with significant variations among school types.


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In order to determine where the reduction of 23.7% of practice time was now spent, analyses

showed that 84.1% was spent in the classroom teaching non-guidance counselling related

teaching i.e. 62.6% subject teaching; 23.8% SPHE; and 13.6% Other. This equates to one in

five guidance counsellors now performing as full-time teachers or 168 guidance counsellors

being removed from the guidance counselling service in Irish schools.

This clearly highlights that there now exists a very uneven and very disjointed service in our

schools and colleges of further education. Students are the real losers as we are witnessing a

major reduction of the core elements of the student support services in schools which have

been slowly built up over many years.

We are not alone in our findings. Our findings are supported by the “Review of Guidance

Counselling provision in second level schools 2012-13” conducted by the National Centre for

Guidance Excellence (NCGE) on behalf of the Department of Education and Science (DES)

and the NCGE Management of Guidance Committee. This research found a mean hours

allocated decease from 24 (2011-12) to 17.8 hours (2012-13), and recommended that “the ex-

quota allocation for guidance in schools should be restored as a priority”.

Guidance counsellors in schools across the country represent a unique network of skilled

professionals who have direct access to young people to assist them with guidance and

direction on their future career paths; and in promoting positive mental health while dealing

with issues such as bullying, stress, self-harm, low self-esteem, etc, on a daily basis. A lot of

counselling work is about prevention; about identifying and reducing potential problems at

source. Much of this ‘under the radar’ work by guidance counsellors is not now taking place,

resulting in unattended problems presenting in a more critical state later, and requiring

external resource-hungry supports, which are already experiencing long delays.

The Institute has indicated its willingness to engage Government Departments to examine

how these scarce resources can be best utilised for the benefit of all young people in our care.

Gerry Flynn

President


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FOREWARD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

LIST OF TABLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

PHASE 3: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Practice Hours 2011-12 to 2013-14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Impact of Loss by School Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Breakdown of 2013-14 Practice Hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Qualified & Unqualified Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Attendance at Supervision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Use of External Providers of Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION & CONTEXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Aims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Structure of the Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

SECTION 2: METHODOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

SECTION 3: FINDINGS & ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Respondent Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

School Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

School Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Allocation of hours for Guidance Counselling: 2011-12 to 2013-14 . . . . . . . . . . 16

Breakdown of allocated hours: 2011-12 to 2013-14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Impact of loss by school type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Breakdown of time-tabled classroom hours: 2011-12 to 2013-14 . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Breakdown of qualified practicing and non-practicing guidance counsellors . . . . 22

Use of external providers of guidance counselling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Free to attend supervision/CPD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

SECTION 4: RECOMMENDATIONS ARISING FROM THE AUDIT . . . . . . 26


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LIST OF TABLES

SECTION 3:

Table 1.1: Respondent schools in each Phase of the Audit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Table 1.2: Respondent schools by Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Table 1.3: Schools by School Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Table 1.4: Respondent schools with PLC & DEIS Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Table 1.5: Schools Providing GC Services 2013-2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Table 1.6: Breakdown of Weekly GC Allocated Hours 2013-2014 . . . . . . . . . . 17

Table 1:7: Comparison of GC Hours 2011-12 to 2013-14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Table 1.8: Impact of Loss in Allocation by School Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Table 1.9: Breakdown of Weekly Time-Tabled Classroom Hours 2013-14 . . . . 20

Table 1:10: Breakdown of Time-Tabled Classroom Hours: 2012-13 and 2013-14 . 20

Table 1.11: Breakdown of Weekly Time-Tabled Classes by Student Year . . . . . . 21

Table 1.12: Qualified Guidance & Counselling Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Table 1.13: Unqualified Staff Providing Guidance Counselling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Table 1.14: Qualified Practicing & Non-Practicing Guidance Counsellors . . . . . 23

Table 1.15: External Providers of 2013-14 Guidance Counselling . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Table 1.16: Analysis of GC’s Free to Attend Supervision/CPD . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

` Table 1.17: Analysis of Reasons for GC’s Non-Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25


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PHASE 3: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Here are highlighted some of the important and concerning findings, based on analyses of

actual data from all respondent schools (n=219), all were allocated hours from the general

schools allocation for 2013-14, and receiving a weekly mean hour allocation of 18.7.

Practice Hours 2011-12 to 2013-14

When this allocation was analysed, comparing Phase 3 and Phase 2 respondent schools

(n=191) who supplied these data for both academic years, it was found that, in addition to

the decrease in practice hours of -21.4% in the 2012-13 academic year, there was a further

decrease of -2.9% in the 2013-4 allocation, bringing the overall combined loss of hours to

-23.7% over the actual practice hours 2011-12. Given that actual practice hours in 2011-12

were -5.7% below actual DES allocation, the loss is even greater at -28.1%.

When this loss was interrogated, results showed that for the 2013-14 academic year time-

tabled classroom delivery of guidance decreased by -5.9%, and one-to-one counselling

decreased by -15.2%. From 2011-12 to 2014-14, a continuing trend of the further erosion of

guidance counselling hours was evident, with respondents reporting an overall increase of

12.8% in time-tabled classroom delivery of guidance, and a catastrophic 58.8% reduction in

one-to-one career/educational and personal and social counselling.

While there was an overall -23.7% loss of practice hours, analyses further found that

guidance counsellors spent 84.1% of those hours time-tabled for classroom teaching of

subjects other than guidance; subject teaching (62.6%), S.P.H.E. (23.8%), and Other

(13.6%). This equates to 1 in 5 guidance counsellors now performing a full-time teaching role

which equates to a removal of approx. 168 guidance counsellors from the guidance

counselling service in second level schools and colleges of further education.

Impact of Loss by School Type

When looked at in terms of which school types lost most for the 2013-14 academic year over

actual practice hours 2011-12, it was evident that Vocational Schools/Community Colleges

lost 24.5%, Voluntary Secondary schools 25.5%, Colleges of Further Education 24.0%,

Community/Comprehensive schools 22.8%, and Fee-Paying schools 14.1%.


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Breakdown of 2013-14 Practice Hours

Guidance counsellors were asked to submit a breakdown of how their 2013-14 allocated

hours would be spent. Results of analyses found that 25.6% would be spent on timetabled

classroom delivery of guidance, 27.3% on one-to-one counselling, 7.8% on group work, and

39.5% on other work. In terms of overall time-tabled classroom teaching, respondents

reported that classroom delivery of guidance represented only 49.4% of the guidance

counsellors’ timetabled teaching, with subject teaching representing 31.8%, SPHE

representing 12.0%, and other teaching representing 6.8%.

Qualified & Unqualified Staff

It has emerged from the audits that not only are all qualified guidance counsellors in schools

not practicing guidance counselling, of greater concern is that a substantial number of schools

are using unqualified staff to deliver the service. Even more concerning is that external

providers of both guidance and counselling are still being recruited and paid by schools.

While the number of schools recruiting external guidance only services has reduced

substantially in 2013-14 (8) over 2012-13 (44), a quarter of all schools (25.1%) are recruiting

external counselling services (55). Of the 339 qualified guidance counsellors employed, only

298 or 87.9% were practicing on a daily basis. At the same time, 23 (10.5%) respondent

schools were using 30 unqualified staff (8 guidance counsellors in-training) which

represented 8.1% of all those delivering guidance counselling. Unqualified staff are

delivering 7.1 mean hours of guidance counselling per week. It should be noted that these

unqualified staff are unlikely to have any specialist training in guidance counselling, or may

not have access to counselling supervision which is of critical importance.

Attendance at Supervision

There was clear evidence, however, of the recognition of the benefits and importance of

counselling supervision, which is funded by the DES. When qualified practicing guidance

counsellors were asked if they were free to attend scheduled counselling supervision on the

designated afternoon, 95.8% reported that they were. However, 12.3% reported that they

were timetabled; 7.3% for subject-teaching, 2.7% for guidance, and 2.3% of other school-

based activities, but when this was brought to the attention of the school Principals, they were

released to attend. However, 4.1% were not free to attend supervision.


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Use of External Providers of Services

In Phase 2 of the national audit for the 2012-13 academic year, 21 schools (8.75%) reported

using external providers for the delivery of guidance; while 70 schools (29.2%) reported

using seventeen different external providers for Counselling. These figures have reduced in

Phase 3 for the 2013-14 academic year where 8 schools (3.6%) report using 6 retired

guidance counsellors, for the delivery of guidance, of which 50% where paid; and 55 schools

(25.1%) reported using external providers for the delivery of counselling, of which 76.3%

were paid, and 49.1% were counsellors. The number of schools using external providers to

fill the gap in service provision has dropped in the 2013-14 academic year; guidance by a

dramatic -61.9%, and counselling by a further -4.1%. This dramatic drop further exacerbates

the loss to students.

It is evident that the use of external providers for counselling is ad-hoc in nature, and it

appears that schools are placed in the position that they will recruit both paid and voluntary

providers, wherever they can be sourced, in order to deliver a counselling service. While it

is acknowledged on behalf of the schools that this solution to the now evident gap in the

provision of service is with the best intent (practice hours down -23.8%, and one-to one

counselling down -58.8%), however, in the absence of an overarching quality system to

determine the qualification of service providers, their service standard, and their Garda

Clearance levels, the use of this method is high risk for students and needs to be addressed as

a matter of urgency.

Recommendations

1. That the Minister reviews the current guidance counselling provision in schools

as indicated by the figure revealed in the audit; and services to students and

schools most in need must be prioritised.

The uneven and disjointed service provision revealed in the audit demonstrates that

the vulnerable and disadvantaged students are hurt most by the cuts. This has major

implications for stated Government commitment to reduce social and economic

inequality and promote social inclusion.


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2. That the Minister affirms the statutory commitment to the holistic model of

delivery.

Students having access to educational, vocational and personal counselling reduces

any possible stigma associated with meeting the Guidance Counsellor about mental

health issues (Guidelines for second level schools on the implications of Section 9(c)

of the Education Act, 1998 relating to students access to appropriate guidance, p.4).

3. Ensure access as envisaged under Section 9 (c) of the Education Act, 1998.

“Counselling is a key part of the school guidance program … [and] may include

personal counselling, educational counselling, career counselling or combinations of

these”. The effect on students presenting with personal issues is immediate; the

effects on educational and career planning is progressive and developmental.

4. That the time lost to Guidance Counsellors, since the cutbacks, for the practice of

one-to-one counselling be restored; and that the DES take cognisance of the NCGE

2011 recommendation “That the DES maintain and strengthen the guidance

counsellors’ practice of counselling through additional supports such as reducing the

ratio of students to guidance counsellor, providing regular supervision and CPD and

acknowledging and formally rewarding the additional training”.

Supervision of counselling practice is a necessity, on a number of counts: for safe,

ethical quality counselling practice, and for ensuring the health and safety of

students. Counselling supervision is also an essential safeguard against possible legal

action being brought against the DES, school management, and practitioners.

5. That the services of in-school qualified Guidance Counsellors be fully utilised to

maintain and strengthen guidance counselling practice; and that the DES discontinue

the current practice by schools of using external counselling providers for guidance

counselling, while relocating those professionally qualified guidance counsellors who

are already in situ (in house) into subject teaching.


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6. There needs to be clear agreement on minimum levels of service provision in

schools and colleges of further education between the DES, Management Bodies,

and the Institute of Guidance Counsellors.

We believe that the relevant DES circular needs to be strengthened to address the

inequalities in service provision and to ensure that there is equality of access and

opportunity for all students. We are concerned about the trend on the part of some

schools to source funding from some external sources and query whether this is in

conformity with good strategic planning.


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SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION & CONTEXT

Phase 3 of the National audit into the practice of guidance counselling in second level schools

in Ireland was commissioned by the Institute of Guidance & Counselling (IGC) under the

directions of its National Executive Committee, and carried out by LifeCare Psychological

Services Limited on their behalf. Here are summarised the aims, background methodology,

as well as the main results of the audit. The recommendations arising from the audit are also

set out.

Aims

The audit aimed to explore the structure, scope and changes to the practice of guidance

counselling by guidance counsellors in second level schools and colleges of further education

from the 2013-14, and build on results already reported for the 2012-13 and 2011-12

academic years. It identified:

1. The demographic structure of the schools, including school type, enrolment figures,

PLC status, and DEIS status;

2. The Department of Education and Skills (DES) 2011-12 allocation of hours by school

type and school status, prior to the removal of the ex-quota allocation;

3. Whether hours for guidance counselling were being provided from the general school

allocation for the academic year 2013-14;

4. Changes to planned service delivery in the 2013-14 academic year as against actual

practice in the 2012-13 and 2011-12 academic years;

5. The actual practice hours by school type and school status for 2012-13 and 2013-14;

6. The number of guidance counsellors employed;

7. The number of guidance counsellors practicing;

8. The number of external providers of guidance;

9. The number of external providers of counselling;

10. The proportion of time guidance counsellors devote to classroom guidance delivery

by student year;

11. The proportion of time guidance counsellors devoted to classroom teaching of non-

guidance subjects;


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12. The proportion of time guidance counsellors devoted to counselling by student year,

including one-to-one career/educational counselling, and one-to-one personal and

social counselling;

13. The types of annual activities undertaken by guidance counsellors;

14. Where these annual activities are undertaken, in school time or personal time;

15. Whether guidance counsellors were free to attend Supervision on the designated

afternoon, and reasons for non-release.

Context

The design of the audit was guided firstly by a policy change by the Government that

involved the removal of the ex-quota allocation for guidance counselling granted to second

level schools and colleges of further education from the 2012-13 academic year onwards; and

secondly, because of the concern of the IGC to the potential serious consequences of this

decision for students in these schools. Building on previously reported finding, an important

part of this audit was to ascertain additional evidence in quantitative terms about the

continuing amount of time loss, the areas of guidance and counselling impacted by school

type, and how any loss may have altered how the role of the guidance counsellor was carried

out in terms of the numbers of guidance counsellors practicing on a daily basis.

Structure of the Report The structure of this report is as follows

Methodology

Finding & Analysis Phase 3, with comparative analyses against phase 2 and phase 1,

as applicable

Recommendations arising from the research


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SECTION 2: METHODOLOGY

The aim of the audit was to establish as far as possible the extent of the impact of the removal

of the ex-quota allocation for guidance counselling. To this end, it was decided to use a

quantitative techniques approach and concepts.

The audit to-date has been carried out in three phases:

1. A nationwide survey of all guidance counsellors in second level schools and colleges

of further education in March 2012 to collect data on actual guidance and

counselling practice during the 2011-12 academic year;


of further education in October 2012 to collect data on scheduled guidance and

counselling practice for the 2012-13 academic year.


of further education in October 2013 to collect data on scheduled guidance and

counselling practice for the 2013-14 academic year.

These questionnaires collected information on school type and status, enrolment, number of

qualified and practicing guidance counsellors, DES allocation, actual practice hours,

classroom delivery of guidance, subject teaching, SPHE, and other teaching by student year,

one-to-one career/educational and personal/social counselling, the use of external providers

of guidance and counselling, types of annual activities undertaken by guidance counsellors

and where they are carried out, and hours lost as a result of the removal of the ex-quota

allocation for guidance counselling.


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SECTION 3: FINDINGS & ANALYSIS

Respondent Characteristics

745 second level schools were invited to participate in Phase 3 of the IGC National Audit of

Guidance Counselling practice. 219 respondent schools (37.9%), representing 298 guidance

counsellors, returned completed questionnaires under Phase 3 which reported data on planned

GC practice for the 2013-2014 academic year, and all returned questionnaires were included.

Of these 219 respondent schools, 191 had participated in both Phases 2 & 3 (87.2%), and 168

had participated in Phases 1, 2 & 3 (76.7%), as shown in Table 1.1 below. Unless otherwise

stated, these results reflect the finding from the total 219 respondent schools. However,

certain questions that require comparative analyses will be identified within the body of this

section.

Table 1.1: Respondent schools in each Phase of the Audit

Category N N % Response

No. of 2nd Level Schools invited to participate 745

Total Phase 1 respondents 271 36.4%


: - Phase 1 & 2 respondents only 240 88.6%


: - Phase 2 & 3 respondents only 191 87.2%

: - Phase 1, 2 & 3 respondents only 168 76.7%

School Location Full details of the location of the 219 respondent schools are shown in Table 1.2 below.

Table 1.2: Respondent schools by Location

School Location

Category N %

Carlow 3 1.4

Cavan 3 1.4


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Clare 6 2.7

Cork 34 15.5

Donegal 7 3.2

Dublin 46 20.8

Galway 12 5.5

Kerry 12 5.5

Kildare 5 2.3

Kilkenny 8 3.7

Laois 2 .9

Leitrim 1 .5

Limerick 9 4.1

Longford 3 1.4

Louth 7 3.2

Mayo 8 3.7

Meath 6 2.7

Monaghan 5 2.3

Offaly 6 2.7

Roscommon 1 .5

Sligo 5 2.3

Tipperary 11 5.0

Waterford 2 .9

Westmeath 3 1.4

Wexford 7 3.2

Wicklow 7 3.2

Total 219 100.00

School Type As shown in Tables 1.3 and 1.4, of the 219 respondent schools, voluntary secondary schools

represented 46.6%, Vocational Schools/Community Colleges 23.7%, Community/

Comprehensive Schools 16.4%, Fee Paying Schools 5.5%, and Colleges of Further Education

5.0%. In addition, 23.3% were PLC, while 24.2% held DEIS status.


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Table 1.3: Schools by School Type

School by Type

Category N %

Voluntary Secondary School 102 46.6

Vocational School/Community College 52 23.7

Community/Comprehensive School 36 16.4

Fee-Paying Secondary School 12 5.5

College of Further Education 11 5.0

Youthreach 1 .5

VTOS/Second Chance 1 .5

Voluntary Secondary School + CFE 2 .8

Vocational School/Community College + CFE 1 .5

Community/Comprehensive School + CFE 1 .5

Total 219 100.0

Table 1.4: Respondent schools with PLC & DEIS Status

PLC STATUS DEIS STATUS

Category N % N %

Yes 51 23.3 53 24.2

No 167 76.3 166 75.8

No Response 1 0.4

Total 219 100.0 219 100.0

Allocation of hours for Guidance Counselling: 2011-12 to 2013-14 All 219 respondent schools reported their individual schools were providing hours for

guidance counselling from the general school allocation, with a weekly mean hour allocation

of 18.7, as shown in table 1.5 below.


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Table 1.5: Schools Providing GC Services 2013-2014

Breakdown of Allocated Hours: 2011-12 to 2013-14 In addition to submitting details of their total guidance counselling hours allocation, schools

were asked to provide an estimated breakdown of how these hours would be spent. All 219

respondent schools provided data, as shown in Table 1.6 below. Classroom delivery of

guidance would account for 25.6%, with a weekly mean hour allocation of 4.7; one-to-one

student work 27.3%, with a weekly mean hour allocation of 5.1; group work 7.8%, with a

weekly mean hour allocation of 1.4; and other (including administration) work 39.5%, with a

weekly mean hour allocation of 7.3. While the majority of respondents were specific about

the total GC hours and, to a slightly lesser extent, the portion allocated to classroom delivery,

they were much less specific about how the balance would be utilised.

Table 1.6: Breakdown of Weekly GC Allocated Hours 2013-2014

Estimated Breakdown Of Weekly GC Allocation 2013-14

Total GC Hours

Classroom Delivery

1:1 Student Work

Group Work

‘Other’ Work

Total Hours 4095.97 1048.88 1118.13 320.91 1618.03

Mean Scores 18.703 4.789 5.106 1.465 7.388

Std. Deviation 9.903 3.088 7.576 2.958 7.621

% Breakdown 100% 25.6% 27.3% 7.8% 39.5%

Total N 219 219 219 219 219

Schools Providing GC Services 2013-2014

Category N % Total Hours

Mean Score

S.D.

Yes 219 100.0 4095.97 18.703 9.902

Total 219 100.0 4095.97 18.703 9.902


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When the total guidance counselling allocated weekly mean hours of the respondent schools

who submitted Phase 2 & 3 data (n=191) is compared with Phase 1, a decrease of -2.9% was

found for the 2013-14 academic year. The overall reduction of total guidance counselling

allocated weekly mean hours over the two academic periods amounts to -23.7%. Time-tabled

classroom weekly mean hours for the same period increase by 12.8%, while counselling

weekly mean hours decreased by -5 8.8%, as shown in Table 1.7 below.

Table 1:7: Comparison of GC Hours 2011-12 to 2013-14

Comparison of GC Mean Weekly Hours: 2011-12 to 2013-14

Category N Actual 2011-12

Scheduled 2012-13

% +/-

Scheduled 2013-14

% +/-

%+/- 2013-14/ 2011-12

Total GC Practice Hours

191 24.541 19.281 (21.4%) 18.716 (2.9%) (23.7%)

Total Time-Tabled Classroom GC Hours

191 4.271 5.118 +19.8% 4.816 (5.9%) +12.8%

Total Counselling Hours

191 12.023 5.843 (51.4%) 4.956 (15.2%) (58.8%)

Total Group Work Hours

191 1.082 1.151 +6.3% 1.473 +28.0% +36.1%

Total ‘Other/Admin’ Hours

191 7.165 7.170 +0.1% 7.470 +4.2% +4.3%

In order to establish if there was significant difference between the total practice hours

reported by all Phase 3 respondent (n=219) for each of the two academic years, 2012-13 and

2013-14, over actual practice hours 2011-12, paired samples t-tests were undertaken. Results

of the t-tests have indicated that statistically significant fewer hours were allocated to

guidance counselling for both the 2013-12 academic year [t(218)=11.71,p=.000] and the

2012-13 academic year [t(218)=11.28,p=.000]. These finding are mirrored in the National

Centre for Guidance in Education’s (NCGE) 2013 “Review of Guidance Counselling in

second level schools 2012-13”, which was carried out on behalf of the Department of

Education and Skills (DES) and the NCGE Management of Guidance Committee. For the

2012-13 academic year, the NCGE research reported a statistically significant decrease

[t(117)=11.6,p=.000], with a mean hour allocated decrease from 24 (2011-12) to 17. As a

result of their findings, the NGCE recommended “that the ex-quota allocation for guidance in

schools should be restored as a priority”.


19

Impact of Loss in Allocation by School Type

When the data from the respondent schools (n=219) to ascertain what schools were impacts,

results found that all school types were impacted when comparative analysis was undertaken

from the 2013-14 academic year over actual practice hours 2011-12. Table 1.8 below shows

that Vocational Schools/Community Colleges lost 24.5%, Voluntary Secondary schools

25.5%, Colleges of Further Education 24.0%, Community/Comprehensive schools 22.8%,

and Fee-Paying schools 14.1%.

Table 1:8: Impact of Loss in Allocation by School Type

Impact of Practice Hours Lost by School Type 2011-13 to 2013-14

Category N

Weekly

Mean Hours

2011-2012

Weekly

Mean Hours

2012-2013

Weekly

Mean Hours

2013-2014

%+/-

2013-14

over

2011-12

Voluntary Secondary School 102 24.510 18.887 18.502 -24.51%

Vocational School/Community College 52 19.632 14.431 14.621 -25.52%

Community/Comprehensive School 36 32.473 26.932 25.076 -22.78%

Fee-Paying Secondary School 12 23.541 19.402 20.222 -14.10%

College of Further Education 11 27.181 26.090 20.666 -23.97%

Youthreach 1 10.000 9.300 9.000 -10.00%

VTOS/Second Chance 1 8.000 3.330 5.670 -29.13%

Voluntary Secondary School + CFE 2 32.335 29.500 17.000 -47.43%

Vocational School/Community College + CFE 1 11.000 8.000 8.670 -21.18%

Community/Comprehensive School + CFE 1 8.500 17.000 18.000 211.76%

Total 219


20

Breakdown of All Time-Tabled Classroom Hours

Schools were asked to provide a breakdown of the number of hours per week time-tabled to

be spent in the classroom. Analyses were undertaken and found that guidance counselling

time-tabled hours only represented 49.4% of total time-tabled classroom hours for guidance

counsellors, which equated to 4.7 mean hours per week. Guidance counsellors were spending

an additional 3.0 mean hours subject teaching; 1.1 mean hours teaching SPHE; and 0.6 mean

hours on other classroom related teaching, as shown in table 1.9 below.

Table 1.9: Breakdown of Weekly Time-Tabled Classroom Hours 2013-14

Breakdown of Weekly Time-Tabled Classroom Hours

Total Hours GC SUBJECT SPHE OTHER

Total. Hours 2123.04 1048.88 674.02 255.53 144.61

Mean Scores 9.694 4.789 3.078 1.167 0.660

Std. Deviation 6.501 3.088 4.584 1.846 2.311

% Breakdown 100% 49.4% 31.8% 12.0% 6.8%

Total N 219 219 219 219 219

Further analyses were undertaken to determine if there was a shift in the pattern of time-

tabled classroom teaching between the 3013-14 and 2012-13 academic years. Results found

that classroom guidance decreased by -5.9%, while subject teaching increased by 14.5%, as

shown in table 1.10 below.

Table 1:10: Breakdown of Time-Tabled Classroom Hours: 2012-13 & 2013-14

Category N Scheduled 2012-13

Scheduled 2013-14

% +/-

% non GC Teaching

Total Time-Tabled Hours 191 9.731 10.015 +2.92% 100%

Total Time-Tabled Guidance Counselling

191 5.118 4.816 (5.9%)

Total Time-Tabled Subject Teaching

191 2.842 3.255 +14.5% 62.6%

Total Time-Tabled S.P.H.E

191 1.251 1.237 (1.1%) 23.8%

Total Time-Tabled ‘Other’

191 0.520 0.707 +36.0% 13.6%


21

The 219 respondent schools reported a breakdown of their weekly time-tabled classroom hours by student year and these are shown in tables

1.11 below. For classroom Guidance, 71.8% of the total classroom guidance hours are time-tabled for Years 4, 5 & 6, with only 9.69% time-

tabled for Years 1,2 & 3. While subject teaching appears to be spread across the board, 76.2% of classroom S.P.H.E. and 64.3% of Other

classroom teaching is delivered to Junior Cycle, and Junior Cycle plus Transition year, respectively.

Table 1.11: Breakdown of Weekly Time-Tabled Classes by Student Year (excluding Modular)

Guidance Total Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

Year 5 LCA1

Year 5 LCVP Year 6

Year 6 LCA2

Year 6 LCVP

Year 6 PLC

Mean Hours 4.4729 .1336 .0789 .2208 1.0192 .9399 .2232 .1998 1.2536 .1808 .1867 .0365 Std. Deviation .53382 .32793 .65460 1.16331 1.10782 .69193 .55138 1.32448 .41113 .52545 .38643

n=219 100.00% 2.99% 1.76% 4.94% 22.79% 21.01% 4.99% 4.47% 28.03% 4.04% 4.17% 0.82%

Subject Teaching Total Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 5

LCA1 Year 5 LCVP Year 6 Year 6

LCA2 Year 6 LCVP

Year 6 PLC

Mean Hours 2.7043 .3758 .4100 .3117 .2744 .2926 .0729 .1426 .3535 .0790 .0944 .2975 Std. Deviation 1.03782 1.01673 .95347 .76816 .85658 .33560 .50023 .94868 .31575 .38473 1.57083

n=219 100.00% 13.89% 15.16% 11.53% 10.15% 10.82% 2.70% 5.27% 13.07% 2.92% 3.49% 11.00% S.P.H.E Total Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 5


LCA2 Year 6 LCVP

Year 6 PLC

Mean Hours 1.0827 .3516 .2248 .2483 .1004 .0505 .0122 .0329 .0418 .0122 .0057 .0023 Std. Deviation .70319 .47317 .55455 .35978 .21639 .14233 .29310 .20514 .14233 .05975 .03379

n=219 100.00% 32.47% 20.77% 22.93% 9.27% 4.66% 1.13% 3.04% 3.86% 1.13% 0.53% 0.21%

Other Total Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 5


LCA2 Year 6 LCVP

Year 6 PLC

Mean Hours .6469 .1302 .1087 .0578 .1194 .0528 .0305 .0518 .0595 .0090 .0152 .0120

Std. Deviation .67009 .66590 .41078 .50329 .27915 .23701 .38796 .32124 .09988 .16196 .12539

n=219 100.00% 20.1% 16.8% 8.9% 18.5% 8.2% 4.7% 8.0% 9.2% 1.4% 2.4% 1.9%


Breakdown of Qualified Practicing & Non-Practicing Guidance Counsellors The 219 respondent schools reported employing 339 qualified guidance counselling staff,

of which 298 (87.9%) were practicing during the 2013-14 academic year, as per table

1.12 below.

Table 1.12: Qualified Guidance & Counselling Staff

Qualified GC Staff in Schools 2013-14

Category N Total Mean Score

S.D.

All Qualified 219 339 1.55 0.762

Qualified & Practicing 219 298 1.36 0.648

Qualified & Non-Practicing 41 .

% Qualified & Non-Practicing 12.1%

While 41 qualified guidance counsellors in the respondent schools (n=219) were non-

practicing, at the same time these schools further reported that an additional 30

unqualified staff were practicing as guidance counsellors during the 2013-14 academic

year, representing 8.1% of all practicing staff, and with a weekly mean hour allocation of

7.1, as per table 1.13 below. Eight (16.3%) of these unqualified staff are guidance

counsellors in-training.

Table 1.13: Unqualified Staff Providing Guidance Counselling

Unqualified Staff Providing Guidance Counselling 2013-14

Category N Total WeeklyMean Hours

S.D.

All Qualified 219 339 18.70 9.902

Practicing and Unqualified 23 30 7.15 6.672

% Unqualified & Practicing 8.13% .


23

In order to compare the numbers of qualified practicing and qualified non-practicing

guidance counsellors across the three academic years, comparative analyses were

undertaken from matched respondents (n=168) who submitted data to each phase of the

audit; phase 1, phase 2 and phase 3. Table 1.14 shows that when the 2013-14 academic

year was compared with 2011-12, there was a - 5.3% reduction in the number of qualified

guidance counsellors practicing, and a -16.4% reduction in the number of qualified

guidance counsellors not practicing, over the same period.

In order to determine if the reduction in the number of qualified guidance counsellors

delivering guidance on a daily basis across the three academic periods was significant,

paired samples t-tests were undertaken. The results of the analyses found that there were

statistically significant decreases when both the 2013-14 and 2011-12 academic years

were compared [t(167)=4.572,p=.000] and when the 2012-13 and 2011-12 academic

years were compared [t(167)=3.380, p=.001].

Table 1.14: Qualified Practicing & Non-Practicing Guidance Counsellors

Guidance Counsellors - Practicing & Non-Practicing 2011-13 To 2013-14

2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2013-14

over 2013-14

Qualified

in Schools

Qualified &

Practicing

Qualified in

Schools

Qualified &

Practicing

Qualified in

Schools

Qualified &

Practicing

Total Non-

Practicing Total 280 263 273 242 265 234 46 Mean 1.67 1.57 1.63 1.44 1.58 1.39 Std. Deviation .816 .739 .748 .663 .808 .701 n=168 100.0% -6.07% 100.0% -11.36% 100.0% -11.70% -16.43%

.


24

Use of External Providers of Guidance Counselling As shown in table 1.15 below, in addition to the above, 8 (3.6%) of respondent schools

(n=219) reported that they were using the services of external individuals to deliver

guidance, 6 of whom were retired guidance counsellors, of which 4 were paid. Fifty five

(25.1%) schools reported they were to using the services of external individuals to deliver

counselling, 33 of whom were counsellors, with 42 (76.4%) of the 55 paid.

In order to determine if there was a decrease in the number of external providers of

guidance counselling services since the removal of the ex-quota allocation, comparative

analyses was undertaken from matched respondents (n=191) who submitted data to both

phase 2 and phase 3 of the audit. Results found that when the 2013-14 academic year

was compared with 2012-13, there was a -62.5% reduction for those providing external

guidance services (down from 16 schools to 6), and a -15.5% reduction for those

providing external counselling services (down from 58 schools to 49). .

Table 1.15: External Providers of 2013-14 Guidance Counselling

Category N % of Schools

Mean Hours

S.D.

Guidance 8 3.6% 9.250 4.216

Counselling 55 25.1% 7.214 5.980

n-219

Free to Attend Supervision/CPD on Designated Afternoon Of the Phase 3 respondent schools (n=219), 9 (4.1%) reported that they were not free to

attend Supervision, which is down from 18.8% on the 2012-13 academic year. At the

same time, 27 (12.3%) reported that they were time-tabled for the period (16 for subject

teaching; 6 for guidance; and 5 for other school-based activities) but were when it was

brought to the attention of the Principal. Details are shown in tables 1.16 and 1.17 below.


25

Table 1.16: Analysis of GC’s Free to Attend Supervision/CPD

GC's Free to Attend Supervision/CPD

Category N %

Yes 213 95.8%

No 6 4.1%

Total 219 100.0 Table 1.17.: Analysis of Reasons for GC’s Non-Release

Breakdown of Time-Tabled Activities

Category N %

Subject Teaching 16 59.3

Guidance 6 22.2

School-based Activities 5 18.5

n=219 27 100.0


26

SECTION 4: RECOMMENDATIONS

1. That the Minister reviews the current guidance counselling provision in

schools as indicated by the figure revealed in the audit; and services to

students and schools most in need must be prioritised.

The uneven and disjointed service provision revealed in the audit demonstrates

that the vulnerable and disadvantaged students are hurt most by the cuts. This has

major implications for stated Government commitment to reduce social and

economic inequality and promote social inclusion.

2. That the Minister affirms the statutory commitment to the holistic model of

delivery.

Students having access to educational, vocational and personal counselling

reduces any possible stigma associated with meeting the Guidance Counsellor

about mental health issues (c.f Guidelines for second level schools on the

implications of Section 9(c) of the Education Act, 1998 relating to students access

to appropriate guidance, p.4).

3. Ensure access as envisaged under Section 9 (c) of the Education Act, 1998.

“Counselling is a key part of the school guidance program … [and] may include

personal counselling, educational counselling, career counselling or combinations

of these”. The effect on students presenting with personal issues is immediate; the

effects on educational and career planning is progressive and developmental.

4. That the time lost to Guidance Counsellors, since the cutbacks, for the

practice of one-to-one counselling be restored; and that the DES take

cognisance of the NCGE 2011 recommendation “That the DES maintain and

strengthen the guidance counsellors’ practice of counselling through additional

supports such as reducing the ratio of students to guidance counsellor, providing

regular supervision and CPD and acknowledging and formally rewarding the

additional training”.


27

Supervision of counselling practice is a necessity, on a number of counts: for safe,

ethical quality counselling practice, and for ensuring the health and safety of

students. Counselling supervision is also an essential safeguard against possible

legal action being brought against the DES, school management, and practitioners.

5. That the services of in-school qualified Guidance Counsellors be fully utilised

to maintain and strengthen guidance counselling practice; and that the DES

discontinue the current practice by schools of using external counselling providers

for guidance counselling, while relocating those professionally qualified guidance

counsellors who are already in situ (in house) into subject teaching.

6. There needs to be clear agreement on minimum levels of service provision in

schools and colleges of further education between the DES, Management

Bodies, and the Institute of Guidance Counsellors.

We believe that the relevant DES circular needs to be strengthened to address the

inequalities in service provision and to ensure that there is equality of access and

opportunity for all students. We are concerned about the trend on the part of some

schools to source funding from some external sources and query whether this is in

conformity with good strategic planning.

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